Practice test. 2 Weeks

It is definitely helpful to have a strong science background. We will go over the undergrad classes we found helpful in a later post (when we are further into the med information). For now, we will tell you a little bit about the med school testing system.

For our tests, we have two parts. Our written test spans three afternoons, Tuesday to Thursday, and our anatomy practical is on Friday morning. LLUSM uses an integrated testing system which is quite different from our college system. In college, we had one test for each subject, like biology on Tuesday at eight or chemistry on Thursday at ten. In med school, during any test session, we could have questions from any subject. We simply have chunks of “test time.” So, not that we would, but procrastination is a lot harder. You can’t cram biochem on Tuesday night since Wednesday’s test may not have any biochem questions. So each testing day could contain questions from any subject.

Our written test is also completely on the computer and multiple choice, like the boards will be. We had a practice exam this Wednesday that gave us a feel of the test room, computer system, and example questions. Some things we learned:

No food or drink (not even water bottles) are allowed.

Bathroom breaks are monitored (they walk you there and back). And only one person is allowed out of the room at a time. Yes, a line can develop, and you’d simply have to wait. Excrete your urea waste products beforehand.

No pencils, pens, or calculators can be brought into the room.

We’ll be given one sheet of scratch paper and one #2 pencil.

The computer calculator is a rather unsmart version.

And most importantly, official school IDs are required to enter. No ID, no test.